Chapter 470: Ancient Sacrifice

"How's the progress?" Gu Rongjin asked.

Mu Yuanzhi: "Young Master Cao just arrived, and you came back."

"Right, I haven't asked a few people yet—how's the progress here?"

"The sealed coffin, the corpse's mouth and nose didn't inhale smoke or dust, the fingernails retained platinum powder from scratching, matching the scratches inside the coffin lid." Mu Yuanzhi said, picking up the silver needle just then, "This is the silver needle that Lord Yun pulled out from below the corpse's throat; preliminarily judged to be used to seal his meridians."

Cao Cixiu listened, took the silver needle and examined it closely.

Yun Jinglou added, "The silver needle bears the old totem of the Hidden Moon Sect."

At this moment Gu Rongjin finally found a chance to interject, "I just went to Myriad Fragrance Pavilion again; the stone Qilin's belly on the roof has the same totem, I estimate Fragrant Splendor has deep ties with the Hidden Moon Sect."

"It's irrelevant." Cao Cixiu said.

"?" Gu Rongjin ground his teeth, how could what he went out of his way to confirm be irrelevant?

Cao Cixiu: "This is an ancient sacrificial ritual."

"A sacrificial ritual?" Yun Jinglou and the others exchanged a glance, "How is this different from the sacrificial ritual I imagined? Shouldn't we look for an altar?"

"An ancient and crude sacrifice." Cao Cixiu said.

Gu Rongjin: "You're really well-informed."

"It told me that."

"Her? Which him?"

Mu Yuanzhi immediately understood: "It couldn't be saying there's a microscopic organism parasitic on this silver needle, could it?"

Gu Rongjin happily said, "I told you finding you was right!"

Cao Cixiu nodded.

Yun Jinglou, however, said, "Then this microscopic organism is quite well-informed."

Cao Cixiu explained, "It's not parasitic on the corpse, but on this needle."

Mu Yuanzhi: "What else did it say?"

Cao Cixiu shook his head, "Too bad, it's dead."

"How did you kill it?!" Gu Rongjin was speechless.

"Saying too much in one breath is the limit for these microscopic organisms."

Yun Jinglou whispered to Mu Yuanzhi, "I think he's just spouting nonsense."

"Never mind, if it's useful that's enough."

"That's also true."

"Then what? Young Master Cao, did it say where this sacrifice custom comes from and what it's for?" Mu Yuanzhi asked, feigning ignorance.

Cao Cixiu: "It's already dead, it only said that one sentence."

Yun Jinglou cleared his throat, almost spitting out a sentence from between his teeth: "He won't fall for your trick."

"Maybe they're telling the truth." Mu Yuanzhi also lowered his voice.

Gu Rongjin spread his hands, "What now, check the ancient texts? Have each locality send their local gazettes for review?"

"I'll go to the scene to take a look." Cao Cixiu said.

"Need someone to come along?" Yun Jinglou asked.

He obviously looked eager to go.

"Not needed."

Yun Jinglou: ……

Fine, you loner!

"Since it's a sacrifice, will there be more deaths next?" Mu Yuanzhi muttered to himself.

Cao Cixiu: "No, enough have died already."

Yun Jinglou laughed, "He really was just spouting nonsense earlier; he actually knows it himself."

He said that loudly, but Cao Cixiu acted as if he hadn't heard and walked away.

Gu Rongjin: "No matter what, Young Master Cao's arrival means this gloomy matter has a resolution."

"You could also go find Sima!" Yun Jinglou suddenly remembered there was such a person.

Mu Yuanzhi: "I was just thinking of going to look for him."

"According to me, we really should shut down the Imperial Court of Justice; the Minister of Justice hasn't contributed as much as we have." Gu Rongjin joked.

Yun Jinglou was really looking forward to going to the Imperial Observatory, "Let's go, while it's still not dark."

Gu Rongjin: "Darker is better, then the shaman doctor likes to play tricks."

They arrived at the Imperial Observatory, were told the shaman doctor had entered the palace, and they could only wait here.

The clerk told them, "The Deputy Director already knew you all would come, and specifically ordered me to bring you here to wait."

He pushed open the door, then nodded and left.

Inside, Tibetan incense was still burning; Yun Jinglou, visiting for the first time, found everything novel, clicking his tongue in amazement: "No wonder it's the shaman doctor's quarters—this room is truly gloomy and chilly."

On the case table there was a pot of hot tea, with three tea cups placed.

Gu Rongjin started serving himself, pouring a cup for Mu Yuanzhi and Yun Jinglou as well.

"Today's tea aroma is especially strange." Mu Yuanzhi picked it up and sniffed, "A lot of lavender was added, it has a calming effect."

Gu Rongjin laughed, "Are we being mocked?"

"Calming is good, I actually feel a bit startled." Yun Jinglou took a sip first, "Strange taste..."

"He probably used burnt lavender." Mu Yuanzhi said, "So there's a weird smell."

"... Is this suppressing the fright or continuing to scare? Should we go along with the mood!" Yun Jinglou complained on the surface, but actually couldn't keep a straight face.

Obviously he really likes this.

After taking a sip, he again asked Mu Yuanzhi, "Princess, is this burning thing the legendary Tibetan incense?"

Of course, he was just making a wild guess.

"Hmm, indeed, it seems Lord Yun also has studied it."

"Xiao Lou, with this incense burning, even if you were stabbed now you wouldn't feel pain," Gu Rongjin suddenly said.

Yun Jinglou cooperatively lowered his head to look at himself, "No, I'm not wearing anything torn!"

"Everyone, thank you for waiting!"

The witch doctor pushed the door open and came in, holding a stack of documents that looked very old.

"I knew you all would come back, but you're a bit early—it's only just dusk."

Mu Yuanzhi: "Isn't dusk also a good time for Lord Sima?"

"Yes, indeed, there's also a chance that sprites and monsters appear at dusk," the witch doctor said with a smile.

He put the documents down and said, "The three of you came to see me surely because of the fire at the Charitable Estate; His Majesty also summoned me to the palace early on, saying that the Vice Minister of the Imperial Court of Justice died under suspicious circumstances, and this has caused panic throughout court and countryside."

Mu Yuanzhi: "What does Lord Sima think?"

"What do you mean? Either someone is practicing dark arts, or someone is conducting a live human sacrifice," the witch doctor curled his lip, "truly foolish and arrogant."

Yun Jinglou: "Young Master Cao said it was an ancient sacrifice."

"Young Master Cao?" the witch doctor narrowed his eyes.

Yun Jinglou anxiously bit his lip: "I feel like I said something I shouldn't have."

Mu Yuanzhi chimed in: "We know a guy named Guan Cai Zi; he has great supernatural powers and can communicate with plants and animals."

"Guan Cai Zi?! Why didn't you bring him to introduce me?" the witch doctor, very interested, leaned closer to Mu Yuanzhi: "Princess?"

Gu Rongjin reached out and pushed the witch doctor away: "It's not convenient; that person belongs to the Third Prince."

"Then forget it; I don't want to have any dealings with anyone except the Crown Prince's retinue," the witch doctor sighed with regret.

Perhaps the previous incident with Pei Biao made him a bit jumpy.

"However, Guan Cai Zi... speaking of Guan Cai Zi, he has heavy yin energy, so you should be careful when dealing with him."